The Monday After: Kennedy a popular baby name back in early 1960s

Sunday

Jan 12, 2014 at 11:57 PM

So many babies were named after President John F. Kennedy from 1960 to 1963 that the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum has an online folder devoted to the phenomenon that is 34 digital pages. It includes photographs.

Gary Brown CantonRep.com Writing Editor-at-large @gbrownREP

John Kennedy.

It once was one of the most popular names in the nation.

So many babies were named after President John F. Kennedy from 1960 to 1963 that the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum has an online folder devoted to the phenomenon that is 34 digital pages. It includes photographs.

"This folder consists of materials maintained by President John F. Kennedy's personal secretary, Evelyn Lincoln, prior to and during his presidency," the library's website notes, "and contains correspondence concerning babies named after John F. Kennedy."

The collection includes a letter from "Jack Kennedy and Family" of Drexel Hill, Pa., telling the then-Sen. Kennedy that he had a "new future party member."

"John Fitzgerald Kennedy — 8 pounds and 10 ounces — had been born to the Pennsylvania Kennedy family on Sept. 8, 1960." The proud father said in his letter that the entire family — "there are eleven of us" — was hoping for Kennedy's election.

DEATH CAUSES INFLUX

Perhaps even more babies were named after Kennedy following his assassination in November 1963 than his earlier election.

Men became memorials to a slain president.

Such was the case in Canton as 1964 began. A "spanking new noise" followed the sounds of celebration on New Year's morning 50 years ago.

"It was the voice of 6-pound, 2-ounce John Kennedy, the first child born in a Canton hospital in 1964," said a story in The Canton Repository the next day. "The son of Mr. and Mrs. Norman Kennedy of 2113 Kimball Road SE, he was delivered at 12:46 a.m. in Timken Mercy Hospital."

The baby Kennedy joined his brothers — Kevin, 2, and Tommy, 4 — and a sister, Delores, 13, in the local Kennedy family.

OTHER BABIES

Other children of Canton were born that day.

Sadly, the second child born in the city was an infant girl who was came into the world at Aultman Hospital about

3 a.m., but who died at noon on New Year's Day in 1964.

Other babies born at Aultman on Jan. 1, 1964, were a daughter born to Mr. and Mrs. Walter I. Cherry and a son born to Mr. and Mrs. Alfred J. Torrence, according to The Repository's story.

Babies born that day at Timken Mercy included sons to Mr. and Mrs. Lynn C. Geib and Mr. and Mrs. Robert L. Wise, along with daughters to Mr. and Mrs. Elio Ciarariello, Mr. and Mrs. Joseph M. Lab, Mr. and Mrs. Arden E. McCormick, and Mr. and Mrs. James E. White.

KENNEDY PHENOMENON

The baby who made the front page of The Canton Repository on Jan. 2, 1964, however, was John Kennedy. Kennedy was pictured being held by his mother in her hospital bed.

His name, given to him in the aftermath of Kennedy's assassination, serves as a reminder even today of the president who lost his life in Dallas.

Three John Kennedys are listed in the Canton-area phone book. None of them is the lad born on New Year's half of a century ago.

The Kennedy moniker still inspires parents who are picking names for their newborn children, according to the website www.thinkbabynames.com.

But it is using Kennedy's family name as a first name that is most popular. The trend to using "Kennedy" as a first name "may be inspired by President John F. Kennedy," the website notes.

Or perhaps Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis also was a source of inspiration, since it returned to popularity as a girl's name near the time of her death in 1994.

Indeed, Kennedy is not a popular first name for boys. Yet, it has evolved into one of the top 100 names for babies in America when you include those given to girls.

Kennedy, along with its use in variant such forms as Kennady, Kennedey, Kenedi, Canaday, Canady — is derived from its ancient Irish Cinneidigh, with "cinn" meaning head and "eidigh" meaning "helmet" or "ugly," according to the website www.ohbabynames.com. No offense intended. It's the kind of fact that arises when you study something in perhaps too much depth.

Characteristics of a Kennedy do include being humanitarian, community-minded, compassionate, and sensitive, according to ohbabynames.com.

Another website, www.behindthename.com, also notes that the name John, from Latin form Lohannes, which is derived from the Hebrew Yochanan, means "gracious."

At least John Kennedy of Canton, wherever he is, and others by the same name throughout the country, have got that going for them.